A Personal Charity Case
by Shutter Shades
Summary: They found her, she needed help...but from who? Suckish summary, give it a chance anyway!
1. Chapter 1

She stumbled along the dusty road in a narcotic-induced stupor. The cars that drove by her on the near-desolate road either honked or ignored her presence. She flipped all of them off anyways.

The large storm clouds rumbled off in the west behind her, and the thick pillars of Steel City's skyscrapers rose up in the east. Soon, the rain engulfed her and the area surrounding in sheets.

Gasping with the effort, she collapsed, leaning her back against a large boulder by a worn billboard. With a weary huff, she curled up in the mud and tried to forget where and who she was.

………..

"Oy! Titans!" Bumblebee shouted from the kitchen of the Titans East's' tower. "Time for field training!"

Mas y Menos tore into the room, jumping up and down and speaking in Spanish. Aqualad glided up from the depths of his pool, perching on the edge, and Speedy strode in with an irritated look on his face.

"Now? In this weather?" he whined. "It took me two hours this morning to fix my hair. The rain's gonna ruin it!"

Mas y Menos mocked him with two equally whiny voices, until two suction cup arrows slapped on their mouths, turning their teasing into muffled cries.

"What's your deal?" Aqualad asked, toweling off his hair as he stepped out of the pool. "It's not going to hurt you. You know, the ancient Aztecs used to use water to-"

"That's okay." Bumblebee cut him off. "I don't know how long this weather is gonna last, and we need field practice in all weather."

The four boys sped, trudged and walked to the Titans East T-Car. Bumblebee got in the driver's seat and they sped off to their practice arena deep in the mountains.

The Titans East, being in the central area of Steel City, had no room for a practice area right in their backyard like the Titans West. After many complaints from Bumblebee, Cyborg finally came out one weekend and helped them build a secret area in the mountains. The team had never practiced in storm weather, so Bee wanted them to see what the terrain would be like.

………………………………..

"HAH! TAKE THAT!!" hollered Speedy as he caught Mas in a giant net. Seconds later he was blasted off his feet by a giant waterball as Aqualad stood on a nearby rock, his eyes blazing with excitement.

"Y'all haven't seen anything yet!" laughed Bee as she sped around the boys, zapping Aqualad in the back as she landed on a tree.

The Titans' fighting caused loud rumbling that echoed off the mountains, but since no one lived within fifty miles they were fine. They were free to cause as much damage as they wanted.

"Do you hear that?" Aqualad paused, a huge sheet of water held over Bee's head. A new rumbling was coming from the east. Rocks trembled and rolled off some of the nearby hills.

All of a sudden, an inhuman screech erupted from the source of the rumbling. As the Titans stood in horror, a giant eagle glided over the mountains and swooped over their heads.

The eagle was a brilliant scarlet red, with burgundy-red and white feathers on its underbelly. Its eyes were a piercing, almost human, blue.

It swooped over Aqualad, trying to rake its giant talons on his head. He ducked in the nick of time, feeling the wind of its speed as it went by.

"Titans!" Bee cried. "Titans-GO! Now!!" They got in their battle positions. Just as Speedy launched an arrow at it, the eagle landed and instantly shifted into a giant scorpion. It screeched as Mas y Menos ran through its giant legs. As they distracted it, Aqualad blasted it with a giant orb of water, and Bee shocked it with her stingers. With a final squeal, the creature collapsed and began to shrink.

The Titans stood at the ready as the scorpion continued to change. It finally laid still, a small(er) lump on the ground.

"Hold up," Speedy called out as stepped towards the creature. "It's a…..person!" he cried to the others. He knelt down and touched the person on the shoulder.

"AARGH!" they cried, jumping to their feet. It was a girl, tall, with her wet hair hanging in her eyes. "YOU RUINED MY REST!" she screamed. She lunged at Bee, hands outstretched to her neck. Mas y Menos sped behind her, grabbing both arms to contain her. She continued to scream expletives as Bee and Aqualad peered at her face.

She was about Aqualad's height (6'1) with short blond hair. She wore a black tank top and volleyball shorts (which are spandex), with no shoes. She also had a small tattoo of an "M" with an arrow coming off of it on her right wrist.

"Let. Me. GO!" she thundered, shaking her wet hair out of her face.

"I think she's sick," Aqualad nodded at the girl to Bee. "Look at her eyes. They're all red, and she's so pale." The girl snarled.

"That's not sickness, at least not the way you mean it." Speedy strode forward, staring into the girl's bloodshot eyes. "She's a shooter."

"A what?" Aqualad asked, confused, while Bee nodded with understanding. "She shoots things?"

"No," Speedy sighed, frustrated. "Horse. Black tar. Smack." He realized the Atlantean still didn't understand. "She does drugs! Heroin!"

The girl snarled again. "Let me go! Now!" She spat in Speedy's face to make her point.

"She's not in her right mind now," he explained to Bee. "We should probably take her back to the Tower."

Bee nodded. 'Get the car," she ordered the still-in-shock Aqualad. "We're gonna help you," she said slowly to the girl, who glared and tried to kick her. Bee sighed and shocked the girl at a pressure point to knock her out. Speedy grabbed her as she slumped in the twins' arms.

As he carried her to the T-Car, he whispered, "I'm gonna help you."


	2. Chapter 2

Review Reply (is that what they're called…? Oh well.)

Shinju-Taitei- Thanks-first reviewer! Hopefully they'll be longer in the future….

If you read this story, please review!! I'd LOVE creative criticism (After all, you get better writing and I write better….so everyone wins!)

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A Personal Charity Case Ch. 2

She was put in the infirmirary and hooked up to an IV (According to Bee, it seemed as if the girl hadn't eaten a full meal in at least a week, maybe more). While they waited for their new charge to wake from Bumblebee's shock, the three older Titans stood around awkwardly in the kitchen, pretending to watch Mas y Menos play video games.

Finally Bee turned to Speedy. "What do you think we should do?"

Both of the male Titans were shocked. Bumblebee, their doubtless leader, asking Speedy for direction?!

"Well," Speedy cleared his throat. "First we'll have to wait till it all gets out of her system. Shouldn't take long, she was pretty hungover when she attacked us. We'll have to figure out who she is, WHAT she is, and if she's a threat. Right?" He glanced at the others.

"Do you think it would be of merit to find out where she got this….substance?" Aqualad asked haltingly.

"Yeah," Bee replied. "But we'll have to get her to trust us first…I think. I don't know if she's enemy or friend." She looked at Speedy. "I want you to talk to her at first. Get to know her…I think you're the one who'll know the most about what to do."

Aqualad looked back and forth at his teammates bewilderedly. What was he missing? Why would Speedy…?

"Okay," Speedy nodded. "It's probably better if the twins stayed away-they're annoying to people who actually know them. I can't imagine how they'll be to a hungover superhuman."

A buzzer beeped, telling them that there was movement in the infirmirary. "Showtime, pretty boy," Bee smirked grimly.

The two Titans strode out of the kitchen leaving a confused and unsettled Aqualad behind.

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Speedy strode into the room while Bee watched through the window outside.

The girl was sitting up in the hospital-like bed rubbing her temples with an anguished look on her face. "I refuse to pay the medical bill," she said hoarsely. "And if you wanna argue about it, I suggest you talk to my law-" She stopped as soon as she saw Speedy walking up to her. "What. The. Fuck?"

He smiled with as much friendliness as possible and offered her his hand. "Speedy. Titans East."

She shook his hand warily. "Hello," she let out as she tried not to let her disbelief show.

"What's your name?" he asked, trying not to grimace at her appearance. She was filthy from all the dirt in the mountains that was caked on her body, and her hair was a combination of scraggly and greasy. It hung in her face and she did nothing to let it cease hiding her eyes.

"Sigren. Sigren Rune." She said, straightening up. "And if I may ask, what the hell am I doing in Titans Tower?"

"We found you in the mountains. Sick," he glanced at the bruises on her arms as she followed his gaze back up to her eyes. "I'd like to talk to you about it."

"Oh." Sigren smirked mockingly as she rubbed her temple again. "What is this, like an 'intervention'?" She narrowed her eyes Speedy. "I know why I'm here. And thank you, but I think it's time I go." She started to get up, but he pushed her lightly back on the bed.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Rune, but do you have any idea what happened out there?"

She frowned at him. "Of course I do."

He cocked his head at her, ready to listen.

Sigren led out a big breath. "Okay, I don't. So what? I was out in the _mountains_. As in, there was no one there to hear me. Or for me to bother. But it's not like you don't have the same problem here in Steel, right? You can't honestly tell me that I'm the only shooter in Steel City."

"Huh?" Speedy was caught off guard. He had assumed that the first thing she would've mentioned would be her shifting. "Well, no. This is a problem because of the way we found you. Or rather, you found us."

Sigren's face remained blank. "What do you mean?"

"You attacked us," he said pointedly.

"Wow," she snorted, grinning crookedly. You're telling me that the, what? Five? Titans out in the desert were caught off guard by an unarmed, defenseless and stoned teenage girl? Wha'd I do, puke on your rocket ship? Oh boy, that must've got your tights in a knot." Her eyes never wavered from Speedy's face, and through her hair he could see that they showed no emotion at all.

He tried not to show that he was unsettled. "No. You attacked us. Not as a girl," he leveled his gaze, "but as a…thing. First an eagle, then a scorpion."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you didn't find some of my stash up there? Sounds like I wasn't the only one off in dreamland."

Speedy stood up, trying to hide his frustration. "Fine. I'll be back when you start to get your memory back." He strode towards the door.

"You're just gonna leave me here?" she called after him. "Isn't that illegal? Not very good behavior for a Teen Tit-" He slammed the door behind him.

Bumblebee was waiting for him outside. "Nice self-control," she complimented him. "I thought you were gonna throttle her when she made fun of your tights."

He grunted. "Whatever. Once someone like that sees their interrogator fall apart, we'll never get anything out of her." He walked authoritively back to the kitchen. Mas y Menos were still playing their game, and Aqualad's silhouette was visible beneath the ripples of his pool.

Bee smiled at his seriousness. "I'm gonna get her cleaned up. Why don't you make somthin' for lunch?"

He nodded and began to cook.

………………………………………………………..

Aqualad was still perplexed with the morning's conversation- why would Speedy know more about _that_ type of person? True, he was more street-smart, but did that make him the main interrogator?

He was also a bit irritated that he hadn't been asked to talk to the girl. Traditionally, Aqualad had been the Raven of Titans East-willing to be the mediator to his more fiery-tempered teammates. If he could be the team counselor, why couldn't he talk to this girl?

And the deepest thing that was bothering him. In Atlantis, there were no narcotics, no drugs, barely any alcohol. He had no idea why anyone would be driven to do such things to themselves. He was troubled by the fact that there was someone who he didn't understand.

He had watched the security tape of Speedy and the girl. She had called herself Sigren. The name reminded Aqualad of secrets. He had seen the way her unreadable eyes seemed to look right through Speedy's mask and into his mind.

It terrified him.

_Fine,_ he told himself. _I am an Atlantean of the highest ranking-I will have to do as my ancestors did and face my fears. _He glided up to the surface of his pool that led to his room. Hopping out, he grabbed a towel and dried himself, bracing himself for whatever he was about to meet.

He strode down the hallway and turned the corner, walking towards the infirmirary door. He peered through the widow in the door. The girl was sleeping. Her lanky frame was sprawled out across the bed and her head was tilted off the corner of the bed, her mouth open as she breathed softly.

Aqualad hesitated, and then turned around back towards to his room. _I wouldn't want to disturb her sleep,_ he rationalized. _Besides. She'll be awake soon. I'll go later_.

With that thought, he took large strides back to his room and dove like an arrow to the depths of his pool.

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End of chapter 2!!!!!!

Yeah, so I didn't really get a chance to introduce myself- I'm Shutter Shades (duh), and this is my first story. I already have a good idea of where it's gonna go, so combined with that and the fact that today is a snow day PLUS the beginning of my winter break (YESSS!!!), expect plenty of updates over the next few weeks!

Unless you don't review….Like I said earlier creative criticism is really appreciated…plus I'd like to know that I'm not the only one reading this story 

Until next time……peace, love and fruitcups!!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of A Personal Charity Case!!

Yeah, I lied about having a lot of updates…turns out going to Canada can kinda ruin your writing plans :/. Ah well…I had to do research for this chapter because, well, I'm not a drug addict. I'm a nerd…but. Here it is! Enjoy!

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It had been a couple of hours since he had checked on Sigren, and Speedy was ready to see how she was doing. He strode up to the window in the infirmrary door and peered in. He frowned. She wasn't on her bed.

He opened the door and strode in, prepared for anything. He relaxed a bit when he heard a groan in the far corner.

Sigren was huddled in the corner, shaking as she stared at him. She looked worse than before, in his opinion. She was pale, sweaty and covered in goose bumps. Her penetrating eyes looked eerie with their pupils dilated, staring at him.

"How you doin'?" he asked nonchalantly, pretending that there was nothing different about this encounter.

"How does it look, dumbass?" she hissed, eyes narrowing. "I feel like _shit_. I look like shit." She wiped her nose on the back of her hand and looked at him again. "What do you want now? What can I do for the almighty _Titans East?"_ She spat their name out like an insult, glaring at Speedy like her predicament was his fault.

He shook his head. "I don't want anything. We're a public service, remember? I'm here to help you." He kneeled down next to her. "Do you want anything? Water? Blankets?"

"Water would be nice," she muttered from underneath her hair.

Speedy stood up and got her water from the sink. When he returned, Sigren was still in a curled up position, but she was jiggling her foot and looking around nervously. "Thanks," she said flatly as he handed her the cup. She glanced at him as he slid down next to her. "Why are you still here?" she squinted at him. "Don't you have to go save some kids from a robot or something? Throw your Hawk-darts or whatever?"

He chuckled quietly. "Not really. I'm Speedy, remember?"

She frowned at him. "You're not really fast. Isn't that the lightning kid?" She rubbed her temples. "Ugh. Y'know what? I don't really care. Go away. Go ride your Speedymobile or whatever." When he hesitated, she turned to him, her face furious. "Go! NOW!"

"Fine, fine. Just give a yell if you need anything." He closed the door quietly behind him, watching her curl back into a fetal position, staring at a point on the wall.

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Aqualad strode purposely towards the infirmrary. He was _not_ going to let Sigren intimidate him. He was a royal Atlantean! _She _should be the one afraid.

He reached the door. She was still in the corner where Speedy had left her-she was shivering and her eyes were half-open and unfocused in a daze.

Aqualad crept in, the blanket he had carefully chosen clutched to his chest. He slowly approached Sigren. She showed no sign of noticing his presence as he crouched down.

Carefully, he unfolded the large blanket, gently tucking it around her. _Maybe she won't notice me!_ He hoped giddily. _She's just sitting there-_

As he started to rise, her hand shot out and grabbed his arm. "Khenti!" she gasped, looking at him with tears in her eyes. "You're here! You came back!" She searched his face desperately, tears running down her face. "We can start again with the others, we…" she trailed off as she noticed Aqualad's confused and panicked face. "Khenti…?" she wiped her face off, looking at his face with despair. "What's wrong?" She noticed his outfit and her surroundings. "Wha- Khenti? What's going on?"

"Erm, I think you're thinking of the wrong person- I'm Aqual-"

"No." She shook her head firmly, pushing him away. "Get away." He stumbled backwards and out of the infirmrary, leaving Sigren wrapped in the blanket, sobbing and shaking silently and again staring at that spot on the wall.

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Aqualad was just about to dive into his pool when Speedy strode in. "Hey," he nodded to his teammate. "Haven't seen you around."

Aqualad shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. "Well…I've been around. Y'know. Swimming. Reading. Stuff."

Speedy nodded. "Yeah. Books. Cool."

They stood awkwardly, Speedy fiddling with his comb and Aqualad biting his lip. "So…" Aqualad started. "How's our, um, charge?"

"She's okay." Speedy looked off into the distance. "She's going into withdrawal…shivering, delusions, kinda like the flu. Except more suckish." He looked back at his teammate. "Have you met her yet? Her name's Sigren."

Aqualad nodded, deciding to not mention his encounter. Speedy would notice anything truly odd about his meeting on the security tape. "She seems to not know much about us…I saw the tape with the-ahem-"he smirked "-hawk-darts."

Speedy rolled his eyes. "Har har, fishboy. I don't think the people in her circle really cared about us-we usually leave the drug rings and stuff to the cops."

"How come you…you know, know so much about…that kind of stuff?" Aqualad asked carefully.

Speedy looked at him. "Bee never told you?" Aqualad shook his head. "I have experience with what this girl is going through." When he saw Aqualad's confused face, he cautiously restated his sentence. "_Personal_ experience."

"_What?!_" Aqualad stared at him goggle-eyed. "You mean, you did- you were-_drugs?"_

Speedy held his hands up. "Hey, chill. I'm clean now, if you're worried about that."

Aqualad was still staring at him in shock. Now it was coming together-why Bee had assigned Speedy to help, how he knew how to help her-he had done drugs! Despite his reassurance that he was clean, Aqualad ran through all of his memories of his teammate-Was he high that time at the amusement park? At that concert? Was that why he was always talking to girls? Did heroin do that to you?

Speedy waved his hand in front of Aqualad's face. "Fishboy? You okay?"

Still at a loss for words, Aqualad shook his head numbly and dived into the pool before it was too late.

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When the siren went off, Aqualad was the first one ready to go and ready for a fight.

Bee buzzed in, shouting orders. "We've got a superhuman runnin' wild in the middle of Steel-she's destroyed a few small places so far but she's headed towards Wayne Tower and we don't have much time. Mas! Menos!" She barked the twins' names just as they skidded in. "Get ready to corral this gal-I don't have a definite on her ability, so be ready for anything. Speedy! Do your best. Aqualad-same!" With a nod she shot off, the four boys close behind.

In the infirmirary, Sigren smiled faintly and put her hand to the room's window. "Finally…"

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Aaaaand there's chapter 3!

Next chapter Sigren will be ready to talk..sorry if the updates are slow in coming or kinda short-I'm in the middle of semester finals and this has been my procrastination time(It's either this or bio…bleahhh.)

If you like this, review. If you hated it and think I should just stick to eating candy canes, review. If you're human, review. Like I said, creative criticism is greatly appreciated!

Peace, love and fruit cups….S.S.


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